28th November 2023, Kathmandu
Ncell Axiata Limited felicitated the winners of the Ncell Short Film Competition that was recently held before Tihar.
Winners of this competition organized under the theme ‘Bhai Tika’ were awarded with the prize on Tuesday amidst a special function held at Ncell ICON, Lainchaur.
A film by 18-year-old Sajil Basnet and Team won First Prize of Rs. 100,000 in this competition. Santosh Shakya and Team bagged a cash prize of Rs. 75,000 as the First Runner-up, while 16-year-old Prayatna Thapa and Team won a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 securing the position of the Second Runner-up.
The films presented were diverse with engaging content that participants brought to life through their unique storytelling and personal stories. Special Mention prize was conferred to Manoj Bhele and Awenis Thapa, while Prakash Nagari and Team won a prize for being ranked among the Top 5. Ncell Short Film Competition provides filmmakers an opportunity to showcase their work and talent to a wider audience to gain invaluable exposure.
Jabbor Kayumov, Chief Executive Officer
Addressing the award handover ceremony, Jabbor Kayumov, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Ncell shared his excitement and said, “Congratulations to the winners! We thank every individual for taking part in our Short Film Competition, illuminating special bonding between a brother and sister with the theme ‘Here for You’. For every single one of you who has got the recognition, I hope you can use this well. I believe storytelling is an important skill to have and can move hearts and minds as we address the social, environmental, and cultural issues.”
Furthermore, Umair Mohsin, Chief Commercial Officer added, “Ncell as a brand, what we stand for is a bigger responsibility to ensure that we support local creative talents. We are playing a small part, but we are glad to provide space and platform to local emerging creators to do bigger and better in times to come for Nepal.”
This open-to-individual and team short film competition was organized to celebrate special bonds through films and was aimed at creating local content and helping local talents grow in their field so they can become a better content creator. “Thank you Ncell for a wonderful opportunity for youngsters like us. We are very happy to win the first prize in this Ncell-organized Short Film Festival. These kinds of platforms motivate filmmakers like us to showcase their talent and get recognized, irrespective of background,” said Sajil Basnet.
The prize handover ceremony was attended by jury members of the Short Film Competition—Asif Shah (Director/Actor/Producer) and Sahana Bajracharya (Multimedia storyteller, Founding Producer of On the Record Nepal).
The winners of the Short Film Competition were announced on Bhai Tika on November 15 and on the same day, the best short films showcasing strong emotional bonding were made public through Ncell’s social media platforms.
The judges shared their excitement and said that there is an overwhelming response and great creativity in our country. All of you are winners for us.
In this short film competition, participants were required to showcase their storytelling and filmmaking talent by crafting a captivating 3-5 minute short film, beautifully capturing the heartwarming bond between a brother and sister.
Participants were asked to submit films with a storyline around ‘Hami Tapaikai Lagi’ (Here for You), infusing one or more elements from Ncell’s surprise campaign, recharge, or data & voice pack usage.
About Ncell
Ncell Axiata Limited is the first private sector telecommunications service provider of Nepal established in 2004 and operating service since 2005, and is constantly working towards its goal of connecting every Nepalese through its network, providing high-quality modern services to consistently create better value for our customers and partners.
Contributing to the vision of ‘Digital Nepal’ and the development of the country’s economy and infrastructure, Ncell has built world-class networks and communication services and operates the widest 4G network in the country, fulfilling the national need for high-speed mobile broadband and creating new opportunities for the people of Nepal towards a brighter digital future.
Ncell is one of the largest taxpayers in Nepal. Ncell has contributed over NPR 283 billion (as of the FY 2021/22) as taxes and fees since its inception. We have contributed over NPR 1.80 billion under our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in focus areas of education, environment, and health, supporting the Government of Nepal extensively.
Ncell is a part of Axiata Group Berhad. Together with Axiata, Ncell is committed to contributing to the development of the country’s economy and infrastructure, building best-in-class networks, and bringing the people of Nepal within the reach of communications. Ncell converted into a public limited company into Ncell Axiata Limited on 3 August 2020. Ncell has been serving over 16 million Nepalese.